Summary
Durant Road Middle is a public grades 6–8 middle school in Raleigh, NC, serving about 649 students within Wake County Schools, a district ranked in the 76th percentile statewide. The school itself, however, currently sits in the 34th percentile of North Carolina middle schools with a two-star rating, a notable decline from its 53rd–63rd percentile performance between 2015–16 and 2020–21.
Academic proficiency is below district and state averages across every core subject. For example, 8th grade reading proficiency is about 46% versus a district average of 65%, and math proficiency in all grades trails by roughly 15–20 percentage points. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern: one in three students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent, compared with a Wake County average of 20.5%. The school serves a majority low-income population, with 68.6% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, yet its outcomes are weaker than schools with similar poverty levels nearby. Spending per student ($10,019) is higher than at several better-performing neighboring schools, and the student-teacher ratio of 15.7 is lower, suggesting that resources are not the primary issue.
There are a few bright spots. Eighth grade science proficiency has consistently been stronger than reading or math, reaching 63.3% in the latest year, close to the state average. Also, the school is relatively more effective at supporting White and African American students than Hispanic, low-income, homeless, and gifted students, based on statewide subgroup comparisons. When looking at nearby options, Heritage Middle and Wakefield Middle rank far higher with lower absenteeism, while River Bend Middle, East Millbrook Middle, and Neuse River Middle rank below Durant Road. Even Carroll Middle and Wake Forest Middle, which serve similar percentages of low-income students, outperform Durant Road by roughly 10–15 percentile points. Reducing chronic absenteeism and improving targeted support for historically underserved groups appear to be essential levers for reversing the school's downward trend.
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